Nikki Sixx Personal life Did he have a family? From May 1989 to November 1996, Sixx was married to his first wife, Playboy Playmate Brandi Brandt; they have three children:
Is he in contact with his mother?
Is Nikki Sixx in contact with his mother?
In 1987, Denise "Vanity" Matthews claimed she was engaged to Sixx. In his book The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, he describes his relationship with her, "Vanity came and went during different periods of my addiction. She was a wild black chick who had sung with Prince: she'd also been his lover for a while. At the time I thought of Vanity as a disposable human being, like a used needle. Once its purpose was fulfilled it was ready for the trash, only to be dug up if you were really desperate...We became drug buddies: sometimes, you could even just about call us boyfriend and girlfriend. Vanity also taught me how to really freebase: the first time I based was with Tommy when Motley just started and only a few times after that. So up until then, I'd been mostly snorting or injecting. But as soon as she showed me the real ins and outs of cooking up a good rock...it was love. Not her. The drug."  From May 1989 to November 1996, Sixx was married to his first wife, Playboy Playmate Brandi Brandt; they have three children: Gunner Nicholas Sixx (born January 25, 1991), Storm Brieann Sixx (born April 14, 1994), and Decker Nilsson Sixx (born May 23, 1995).  One month after the divorce from Brandt, Sixx married his second wife, another Playboy Playmate, actress Donna D'Errico. Sixx and D'Errico have one daughter, Frankie-Jean Mary Sixx (born January 2, 2001). D'Errico has a son, Rhyan Jacob (born 1993), from a previous relationship. They separated shortly after their daughter's birth, and reconciled months later when Sixx completed rehab. They separated again on April 27, 2006 and divorced in June 2007, with D'Errico claiming irreconcilable differences.  Sixx dated tattoo artist Kat Von D from 2008 to 2010. A few months after their breakup, Sixx and Von D were spotted back together. Sixx was featured on an episode of Von D's reality television show LA Ink in 2008, in which Von D gave him a tattoo of Mick Mars, lead guitarist of Motley Crue. On August 25, 2010, Sixx issued a statement that their relationship had dissolved. It was reported on October 19, 2010 that Nikki and Kat had gotten back together. On October 27, 2010 Kat Von D confirmed to USA Today that indeed she and West Coast Choppers owner Jesse James were still together, debunking original reports that she and Sixx had reconciled. On November 4, 2010 Sixx was spotted at the Call of Duty: Black Ops Launch Party in Santa Monica, California with Courtney Bingham, whom he has been dating ever since and they now live together. On November 26, 2012, Nikki revealed to the public that he proposed to Courtney while vacationing in St. Barts. They were married on March 15, 2014. Courtney revealed in July 2014 that she and Sixx are planning to have a child, her first.  Transcendental Meditation is an important self-help technique to Sixx. CANNOTANSWER
CANNOTANSWER
Nikki Sixx (born Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr.; December 11, 1958) is an American musician who is the co-founder, bassist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Mötley Crüe. Prior to forming Mötley Crüe, Sixx was a member of Sister before going on to form London with his Sister bandmate Lizzie Grey. In 2000, he formed side project group 58 with Dave Darling, Steve Gibb and Bucket Baker issuing one album, Diet for a New America, the same year while, in 2002, he formed the hard rock supergroup Brides of Destruction with L.A. Guns guitarist Tracii Guns. Formed in 2006, initially to record an audio accompaniment to Sixx's autobiography The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, his side band Sixx:A.M. features songwriter, producer, and vocalist James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba.

Sixx has also worked with a number of artists and groups, co-writing and/or producing songs, such as Sex Pistols's guitarist Steve Jones, Lita Ford, Alice Cooper, Meat Loaf, Marion Raven, Drowning Pool, Saliva and The Last Vegas, among others.

Sixx launched the clothing line "Royal Underground" in 2006 with Kelly Gray, formerly the co-president and house model of St. John. Initially the label concentrated on men's clothing before expanding into women's while in 2010, Premiere Radio Networks launched nationally syndicated Rock/alternative music radio programs "Sixx Sense" and "The Side Show Countdown" with both based in Dallas, Texas and hosted by Sixx and co-hosted by Jenn Marino.

Early life
Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr. was born on December 11, 1958, in San Jose, California. He is of Italian descent on his father's side, from  Prato, Tuscany. Sixx was partially raised by his single mother, Deana Richards, and by his grandparents after his father left the family. Feranna later moved in with his grandparents after his mother abandoned him. Feranna relocated several times while living with his grandparents. Feranna's uncle, husband of Deana's sister Sharon, is Don Zimmerman, producer and president of Capitol Records. Feranna had one full biological sister, Lisa (born with Down syndrome; died circa 2000) and has one (half) brother Rodney Anthony Feranna (born 1966) and a half-sister Ceci.

Feranna grew up listening to Deep Purple, Harry Nilsson, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Queen, and Black Sabbath; he later discovered T. Rex, David Bowie, and Slade. While living in Jerome, Idaho, Feranna's youth was troubled; he became a teenage vandal, broke into neighbors' homes, shoplifted, and was expelled from school for selling drugs. His grandparents sent him to live with his mother, who had moved to Seattle. Feranna lived there for a short time and learned how to play the bass guitar, having bought his first instrument with money gained from selling a guitar he had stolen.

Career

Early career, Sister, London (1975–1979)

At the age of 17, Feranna moved to Los Angeles and worked menial jobs such as working at a liquor store and selling vacuum cleaners over the phone while he auditioned for bands. He eventually joined the band Sister, led by Blackie Lawless, after answering an ad in The Recycler for a bass player. Soon after recording a demo, Feranna was fired from Sister along with bandmate Lizzie Grey.

Feranna and Grey formed the band London soon afterward, in 1978. During this time, Feranna legally changed his name to Nikki Sixx. After a number of lineup changes, London added former Mott the Hoople singer Nigel Benjamin to the group, and recorded a 16-track demo in Burbank. After the departure of Benjamin, along with the failure to find a replacement, Sixx departed London. The group would go on to feature Sixx's former Sister bandmate Blackie Lawless (later of W.A.S.P.), Izzy Stradlin (then of Hollywood Rose, later of Guns N' Roses) and drummer Fred Coury (later of Cinderella). In 2000, a number of the London demos recorded with Sixx were included on London Daze by Spiders & Snakes, led by former London guitarist Lizzie Grey.

Mötley Crüe (1981–2015)

In 1981, Sixx founded Mötley Crüe alongside drummer Tommy Lee. They were later joined by guitarist Mick Mars through an ad in the local newspaper, and singer Vince Neil, with whom Lee had attended high school. The band self-recorded their debut album, Too Fast for Love, which was subsequently released in November 1981 on the band's own Leathür Records label. After signing with Elektra Records, they re-released the same album. The band then went on to record and release Shout at the Devil, raising the band to national fame. They issued three more albums during the 1980s, Theatre of Pain in 1985, Girls, Girls, Girls in 1987, and Dr. Feelgood in 1989. The latter ended up being their most successful record, staying in the charts for 114 weeks after its release.

During his time with Mötley Crüe, Sixx became addicted to heroin. He is quoted in The Heroin Diaries as saying: "Alcohol, acid, cocaine... they were just affairs. When I met heroin it was true love." He estimates he overdosed "about half a dozen times". On December 23, 1987, Sixx overdosed on heroin and was reportedly declared clinically dead for two minutes before a paramedic revived him with two syringes full of adrenaline.

After releasing the compilation album Decade of Decadence in 1991, Neil left the group, and was replaced by John Corabi, who formerly served with The Scream. They released one self titled album with Corabi, in 1994, before firing him in 1996. Afterwards, they reunited with Neil, with whom they released Generation Swine in 1997.

Sixx had become controversial for an incident during a Mötley Crüe concert at Greensboro Coliseum on October 30, 1997, in which he used racial epithets while goading the audience to physically attack a black security guard for repeatedly attacking a female fan. In May 2001, Sixx addressed the issue, and claimed he had apologized to the victim of the incident.

In 1999, Tommy Lee left the group to form Methods of Mayhem. He was replaced by former Ozzy Osbourne drummer Randy Castillo, with whom they released the album New Tattoo in 2000. The group went on hiatus soon afterward before reuniting in 2004, during which Sixx declared himself sober. A 2001 autobiography entitled The Dirt packaged the band as "the world's most notorious rock band". The book made the top ten on The New York Times Best Seller list and spent ten weeks there.

In 2006, Mötley Crüe completed a reunion tour, featuring all four original members, and embarked on a co-headlining tour with Aerosmith, called The Route of All Evil. In April 2008, the band announced the first Crüe Fest, a summer tour, that featured Sixx's side project Sixx:A.M., Buckcherry, Papa Roach and Trapt. On June 24, 2008, Mötley Crüe released their ninth and final studio album, Saints of Los Angeles, with Sixx credited as either writer or co-writer on all tracks. The band officially retired in 2015.

Sixx wrote most of Mötley Crüe's material, including tracks such as "Live Wire", "Home Sweet Home", "Girls, Girls, Girls", "Kickstart My Heart", "Wild Side", "Hooligan's Holiday" and "Dr. Feelgood". In the 1990s, all four members began contributing to the material on the albums.

58 (2000)

In 2000, Sixx formed the internet-based side project 58 with producer Dave Darling, guitarist Steve Gibb (formerly of Black Label Society and Crowbar) and drummer Bucket Baker. They released one single, titled "Piece of Candy", and their debut album, Diet for a New America, also in 2000 through Sixx's Americoma label and Beyond Records. The group did not tour, and was described by Sixx as "strictly an artistic thing."

Brides of Destruction (2002–2004)

Brides of Destruction were formed by Sixx and Tracii Guns in Los Angeles 2002 initially with the name Cockstar after Mötley Crüe went on hiatus and Guns left L.A. Guns. Sixx also invited former Beautiful Creatures guitarist DJ Ashba to join the group however he declined to focus on his solo band, ASHBA. Ashba would eventually join Sixx in Sixx:A.M.

After a few lineup changes, that included Sixx's former Mötley Crüe bandmate John Corabi, keyboardist Adam Hamilton and drummer Kris Kohls of Adema, the group was composed of Sixx, Guns, singer London LeGrand and drummer Scot Coogan formerly of Ednaswap and Annetenna.

They were advised by radio programmers that the name Cockstar would not be announced on air. They briefly adopted the moniker Motordog before settling on Brides of Destruction.

They entered the studio with producer Stevo Bruno to begin recording what would become Here Come the Brides. The Brides played their first show opening for Mudvayne and Taproot on November 14, 2002, at the Ventura Theatre in California.

After signing a deal with Sanctuary Records, the group released Here Come the Brides in 2004, with the album debuting at number 92 on the Billboard 200 selling over 13,000 copies. A tour of the US, Europe, including an appearance at Download Festival in the United Kingdom, and Australia followed.

On October 25, 2004, it was announced that the group were to go on hiatus while Sixx reunited with Mötley Crüe for a reunion tour. The group continued without Sixx, however, with Guns adding former Amen bassist Scott Sorry to the group as Sixx's replacement. The second Brides of Destruction album, titled Runaway Brides, released in 2005 featured three songs co-written by Sixx during the Here Come the Brides sessions.

Sixx:A.M. (2006–2017)

Sixx formed his own group Sixx:A.M. in 2006, to record an audio accompaniment to his autobiography The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, with friends producer/songwriter James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba (Guns N' Roses, formerly of Beautiful Creatures and BulletBoys). They recorded and released The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack in August 2007 through Eleven Seven. The single, "Life Is Beautiful", received a high ratio of radio and video play peaking at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks.

The band made their live debut at the Crash Mansion on July 16, 2007. They performed five songs from the album, with former Beautiful Creatures drummer Glen Sobel filling in on the drums. On April 15, 2008, Sixx:A.M. announced they would be touring as part of Mötley Crüe's Crüe Fest. The tour began on July 1, 2008, in West Palm Beach, Florida. During Crüe Fest, Papa Roach drummer Tony Palermo served as a touring drummer for the band. A deluxe tour edition of The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack was released on November 25, 2008, which included a bonus live EP entitled Live Is Beautiful, which features recorded performances from the band's summer tour.

In April 2009, both Sixx and Michael confirmed that the band was in the studio, recording new material. Sixx added that the new material was "inspiring. it feels like we may have topped ourselves on this album coming up, and can't wait for you to hear what it sounds like."

In 2010, the group continued recording the album with plans to release it by the late 2010/early 2011 with the group bringing in Paul R. Brown to shoot the video for the album's first single. During an interview in July 2010, Sixx stated that the album was almost finished. This Is Gonna Hurt, the band's second studio album, was released on May 3, 2011. A third studio album, Modern Vintage, was released in 2014. Prayers for the Damned and Prayers for the Blessed were released in 2016.

The band went on hiatus in 2017, with other members DJ Ashba and James Michael forming a new band, Pyromantic.

In 2021, the band released a greatest HITS album to coincide with Nikki's fourth novel, THE FIRST 21.

Other work
In 1989, Sixx was a featured guest artist on the album Fire and Gasoline by Steve Jones, formerly of the Sex Pistols. Sixx co-wrote and performed on the song, "We're No Saints". In 1991, Sixx played bass on "Feed My Frankenstein" on Alice Cooper's Hey Stoopid album. Sixx co-wrote the track "Die For You", along with Cooper and Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars. In 2002, Sixx played on Butch Walkers first solo album "Left of Self Centered". In 2005, he collaborated with the Norwegian singer Marion Raven on two songs, "Heads Will Roll" and "Surfing the Sun", for Raven's debut album, Here I Am. A new version of "Heads Will Roll" appeared on Raven's 2006 EP Heads Will Roll and on her 2007 U.S. debut album, Set Me Free. In 2006, he was one of the songwriters for Meat Loaf's long-awaited album, Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose.

In September 2007, Sixx released a book titled The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, a collection of his journal entries from 1986 and 1987 (when his heroin addiction was at its most dangerous). Written with British journalist Ian Gittins, it presents the present-day viewpoints of his bandmates, friends, ex-lovers, caretakers, business associates and family as they respond to specific passages. The book debuted at #7 on The New York Times Best Seller list. Along with Big & Rich (John Rich and Big Kenny Alphin), and James Otto, Sixx co-wrote "Ain't Gonna Stop" for Otto's 2008 Sunset Man CD on Warner Bros/Raybaw Records.

In May 2021, it was announced that Sixx along with Rob Zombie, John 5, and Tommy Clufetos formed a supergroup called L.A. Rats. Their debut track, "I've Been Everywhere", is from the soundtrack to the Liam Neeson film The Ice Road.

Equipment

Signature basses
Sixx is most often seen playing Gibson Thunderbird basses. Between 2000 and 2003 Gibson produced the Nikki Sixx Signature Blackbird. The Gibson Blackbird was for all intents and purposes a standard Thunderbird bass, but with a satin black finish, Iron Crosses on the fretboard instead of dots, an Iron Cross behind the classic Thunderbird logo, and Nikki Sixx's 'opti-grab' (a metal loop installed behind the bridge for hooking the little finger onto while playing). What also made this bass interesting was the lack of volume or tone controls, being replaced by a single on/off switch. Although subtle, this helped give this Blackbird more tone and a higher output. This model was discontinued in 2003, but has recently been put back in production as the Epiphone Nikki Sixx Blackbird. Cosmetically the Epiphone Blackbird is identical to the Gibson original, but with a bolt-on single ply neck, solid mahogany body, different pickups and lower grade parts and manufacturing. The Epiphone model still kept the 'opti-grab,' designed and made first by his bass technician Tim Luzzi, and single on/off switch of the Gibson original. In 2008, Gibson announced a 'limited run' new Nikki Sixx signature bass. Like the original it features a neck through design made of mahogany and walnut, with maple 'wings' to form the body. Unlike the original 'Blackbird' bass, a clear 'satin black cherry' finish is given to the instrument, with red 'slash' X's on the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 12th frets. A mirror pickguard is also applied, with a red signature and two X's (6 x's on the whole bass) is also a new addition. Unlike the Gibson Blackbird, the new signature featured volume and tone controls, the 'opti-grab', and an on/off switch.

Personal life

Sixx was engaged to Denise "Vanity" Matthews in 1987. In his autobiography, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, Sixx described his toxic relationship with Matthews. "Vanity came and went during different periods of my addiction. She was a wild black chick who had sung with Prince: she'd also been his lover for a while. At the time I thought of Vanity as a disposable human being, like a used needle. Once its purpose was fulfilled it was ready for the trash, only to be dug up if you were really desperate…We became drug buddies: sometimes, you could even just about call us boyfriend and girlfriend. Vanity also taught me how to really freebase: the first time I based was with Tommy when Mötley just started and only a few times after that. So up until then, I'd been mostly snorting or injecting. But as soon as she showed me the real ins and outs of cooking up a good rock…it was love. Not her. The drug."

From May 1989 to November 1996, Sixx was married to his first wife, Playboy Playmate Brandi Brandt; they have three children: Gunner Nicholas Sixx (born January 25, 1991), Storm Brieann Sixx (born April 14, 1994), and Decker Nilsson Sixx (born May 23, 1995).

One month after the divorce from Brandt, Sixx married his second wife, another Playboy Playmate, actress Donna D'Errico. Sixx and D'Errico have one daughter, Frankie-Jean Mary Sixx (born January 2, 2001). D'Errico has a son, Rhyan Jacob (born 1993), from a previous relationship. They separated shortly after their daughter's birth, and reconciled months later when Sixx completed rehab. They separated again on April 27, 2006, and divorced in June 2007, with D'Errico claiming irreconcilable differences.

Sixx dated tattoo artist Kat Von D from 2008 to 2010. A few months after their breakup, Sixx and Von D were spotted back together. Sixx was featured on an episode of Von D's reality television show LA Ink in 2008, in which Von D gave him a tattoo of Mick Mars, lead guitarist of Mötley Crüe. On August 25, 2010, Sixx issued a statement that their relationship had dissolved. It was reported on October 19, 2010, that Nikki and Kat had gotten back together. On October 27, 2010 Kat Von D confirmed to USA Today that indeed she and West Coast Choppers owner Jesse James were still together, debunking original reports that she and Sixx had reconciled. On November 4, 2010, Sixx was spotted at the Call of Duty: Black Ops Launch Party in Santa Monica, California with Courtney Bingham.  On November 26, 2012, Nikki revealed to the public that he proposed to Courtney while vacationing in St. Barts. They were married on March 15, 2014.

Bingham gave birth to their first child together, Ruby Sixx on July 27, 2019. Sixx announced the birth through social media.

Sixx practices Transcendental Meditation, as he considers it an important self-help technique.

During an interview with Wall of Sound, Nikki revealed he's working on a children’s book with his wife and a coffee table poetry/photography book.

Radio shows
Launched on February 8, 2010, Sixx Sense with Nikki Sixx broadcasts Monday through Friday from 7 p.m. to midnight local time on rock/alternative music stations. Each night, host Nikki Sixx discusses music and lifestyle topics as he gives listeners a backstage look at the world and mind of a rock star. Sixx was joined by co-host Kerri Kasem, from its first episode until March 28, 2014. On April 2, it was announced that radio personality Jenn Marino would be joining the show in Kasem's place. The show is based in Dallas, Texas in a studio in the Northpark Center.

Starting on May 7, 2012, KEGL in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas moved the show to mornings, making it the only station to carry the show in the mornings at 6 to 10 AM local time instead of the evening's time slot. The show is customized for the Dallas/Fort Worth listeners for broadcast in the mornings on KEGL. Sixx said that bringing Sixx Sense to mornings "has always been our goal. Who better to start your morning with than a rock star and a hot chick? It's a dream come true to have a morning show on one of America's best rock stations." however, one year later, Sixx Sense returned to evenings at KEGL. In addition, recent episodes of "Sixx Sense" air 24/7 on its own iHeartRadio streaming page.

The Side Show with Nikki Sixx is a two-hour original weekend program. Airing Saturday or Sunday between 6 a.m. and midnight local time, Nikki Sixx will air top-charting songs, showcase new and emerging artists, and welcome guests from the worlds of music and entertainment. In October 2017 Sixx announced  he would step down from Sixx Sense on December 31, 2017.

Running Wild in the Night
With the formation of Sixx:A.M. and the release of The Heroin Diaries, Nikki Sixx teamed up with an already existing charity known as the Covenant House and created his own branch called Running Wild in the Night. In addition to partially funding the services the Covenant House provides on its own, Sixx's division also provides a creative arts and music program. Sixx has negotiated with people in his industry to provide the program with musical instruments and software.

A Portion of the profits from Sixx:A.M.'s album The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack and his autobiography, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star is donated to help the Covenant House. He continues to auction off personal items to fund Running Wild in the Night. As of April 2009, he had raised over $100,000.

Discography

Production and songwriting credits

References

External links

 
 
 Official Sixx:A.M. website
 Official Cruefest 2009 Tour website
 Official Sixx Sense website
 Mötley Crüe videos

1958 births
20th-century American musicians
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American musicians
21st-century American non-fiction writers
American fashion designers
American heavy metal bass guitarists
American male non-fiction writers
American memoirists
American people of Italian descent
Glam metal musicians
Living people
Mötley Crüe members
Musicians from San Jose, California
Photographers from California
Radio personalities from Los Angeles
Sixx:A.M. members
Songwriters from California
Writers from Los Angeles
Writers from San Jose, California
Guitarists from Los Angeles
20th-century American guitarists
Brides of Destruction members
American male bass guitarists
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers
is a manga series by Japanese author Stu-Hiro. It tells about a young 26-year-old otaku, who is suddenly visited by a young girl claiming to be his daughter. It was first serialized in Fujimi Shobo's shōnen manga magazine Monthly Dragon Age in 2006.
The last chapter has been released in the 11th issue of Monthly Dragon Age on October 8, 2011.

Characters

Kouta Morisaki is a young man with stereotypical otaku interests. He works as an assistant manga artist for Sousuke Morita for a living. In highschool, he slept with Nozomi Yukimura and lost contact with her ever since. He eventually discovers she had given birth to his daughter, Kanau Yukimura, when she appears at his doorstep. As they live together, Kouta begins to place her above his otaku interests and develops as a father and discarding some of his otaku hobbies.
Kouta is attracted to Taeko Morita and confesses his feelings to her only to discover she is married to Sousuke Morita. With support from his daughter and Sousuke, Kouta aims for a career as a professional manga artist.

Kanau Yukimura is the 10 (recently 9) year old daughter of Kouta Morisaki and Nozomi Yukimura (though her birthday is on Feb 29, making her technically still 2). She begins living with her father after her mother began hiding from debt collectors. Initially disheartened with her father's hobbies, she begins to accept him for who he is and pushes him to try more ordinary things. She also has a strong desire to gain the autographs of famous people.
Later in the series, Kanau adopts a homeless samoyed who is named  by the tenants; His name is based on the manga series Maison Ikkoku. It is also revealed she has a little half-brother named Tsukamu.

Taeko Morita is the manager of the Higansou apartment. She is a well-endowed, thick-headed, 19-year-old high school student who is usually mistaken to be in her late twenties. She studies the otaku hobbies of her tenants so that she can relate to them better. She resents her mother after witnessing her kiss with Sousuke Morita and was a delinquent in the past due to this reason.
It was later revealed that she was adopted by Sousuke after her grandfather's death, and eventually marries him.

Haruka is an assistant manga artist for Sousuke Morita and resides in the Higansou apartment. She goes to the same school as Taeko whom she is very close to. Haruka has an inferiority complex with her sister who is a successful manga artist. Struggling to free herself from her sister's shadow, she quit high school in order to focus on her career as a manga artist under the pen name .
Initially disliking Kouta Morisaki, she begins to develop feelings for him as well. Soon, she develops more confidences in herself and her work.

 
Chihiro Nitta is a residence of the Higansou apartment and is friends with Kouta Morisaki since highschool. A dedicated lolicon with no interest in older women, he has targeted Kanau Yukimura many times before. He jumps from job to job, usually working in a profession near children. Whenever he consumes sweets, his libido is eliminated completely rendering him harmless.
Despite his lunacy, Chihiro is very insightful of people.
He was secretly in contact with Kanau's mother, Nozomi Yukimura, whom he grew up in an orphanage with.

Sousuke Morita is a famous manga artist known under his pen name . He was inspired to become a manga artist after Taeko Morita commented on one of his works which he drew to cheer her up. Despite being married, it was confirmed that he is still a virgin.

Nozomi Yukimura is Kanau Yukimura's mother. She is a year older than Kouta, and was the one who seduced him in highschool. After acquiring a large debt, she sends Kanau to live with Kouta and has been on the run while working off her debt.
It is later revealed that Nozomi initially sent Kanau to be with Tsukamu's father, until Kanau insisted she wanted to meet her own father. Therefore, Nozomi had no intention of ever telling Kouta about her and if it weren't for Kanau, he would have never known he had a daughter.
She is secretly in contact with Chihiro Nitta to gather information on her daughter.
She is revealed to be an orphan after the deaths of his parents in a car accident. It is later revealed she did not love Kouta, and only used him to make Chihiro jealous, as she was in love with him since childhood, but could never get his attention due to the fact that he was a lolicon.

 Kimiko Asou is Taeko Morita's mother who works as a hostess. She often appears after work, still wearing a Hostess fantasy costume. She becomes bored with things easily, which seems to be the reason for her promiscuity. Even though she and Taeko are not on good terms, she still sends her money in child support in an attempt to fulfill her role as a parent.
In her past, her mother left her with her father whom neglected her since childhood. When Kimiko became pregnant with Taeko, she attempted to commit suicide, forcing her father to realize the consequence of his neglect. In order to repent for it, he offers to raise Taeko for her.

Mami Kitamura is Kouta Morisaki's sister who is married to Kitamura Kenya. She works as a model and continued to model even when pregnant. She later gives birth to a girl named Saori. She is very nosey and has good eye for detail allowing her to instantly discern Kanau to be Kouta's daughter.
She is also ecologically minded, knowing that the price tag doesn't determine an item's quality.

Serio
She is friends with Kanau, whom she met at the Comiket, and became quick friends due to their father's similarities. She is often portrayed with a stoic expression and was the person who bought Haruka's doujin many years prior to the series. She is skilled at making cosplay outfits and is able to get someone's measurements just by hugging them.

List of Otaku no Musume-san volumes

References

External links
 

2006 manga
Fujimi Shobo manga
Shōnen manga
Works about parenting Kangaroo care also called skin-to-skin contact (SSC), is a technique of newborn care where babies are kept chest-to-chest and skin-to-skin with a parent, typically their mother (occasionally their father).

Kangaroo care, named for the similarity to how certain marsupials carry their young, was initially developed in the 1970s to care for preterm infants in countries where incubators were either unavailable or unreliable. More recently, the term skin-to-skin care is also used to describe the technique of placing full-term newborns immediately after birth on the bare chest of their mother or father.  There is evidence that it is effective in reducing  infant mortality, the risk of hospital-acquired infection, increasing weight gain, increasing rates of breastfeeding, and other advantages for both mother and baby.

Medical uses
Originally babies who were eligible for kangaroo care included pre-term infants weighing less than , and breathing independently. Cardiopulmonary monitoring, oximetry, supplemental oxygen or nasal (continuous positive airway pressure) ventilation, intravenous infusions, and monitor leads do not prevent kangaroo care. In fact, babies who are in kangaroo care tend to be less prone to apnea and bradycardia and have stabilization of oxygen needs.

During the early 1990s, the concept was advocated in North America for premature babies in neonatal intensive care units and later for full term babies. Research has been done in developed countries but there is a lag in implementation of kangaroo care due to ready access of incubators and technology.

Restrictions for eligibility to receive skin-to-skin contact are becoming fewer, the main constraint has probably been caregiver confidence and experience.

Evidence

While kangaroo care initially generally implied care of low birth weight and preterm infants, skin-to-skin contact should be regarded as normal and basic for all newly born humans. An early study (1979) showed increased breastfeeding rates when skin-to-skin contact started at birth, and when early breastfeeding was encouraged every two hours. A randomized controlled trial published in 2004 reported that babies born between 1200 and 2200g became physiologically stable in skin-to-skin contact starting from birth, compared to similar babies in incubators. In another randomized controlled trial conducted in Ethiopia, survival improved when skin-to-skin contact was started before 6 hours of age.

In the 1990s studies began to note a series of innate behaviors in full term infants when placed in SSC with their mothers. One 2011 study described a sequence of nine innate behaviors as:
 It is believed that 

A  Cochrane review on "Early skin-to-skin contact for mothers and their healthy babies", updated in 2015, provided clinical support for the scientific rationale but looked at evidence for early skin-to-skin contact for healthy babies. The available evidence showed that early skin-to-skin contact was associated with increased rates of breastfeeding, and some evidence of improved physiological outcomes (early stability of the heart rate and breathing) for the babies.
 
In 2016 a Cochrane review, "Kangaroo mother care to reduce morbidity and mortality in low birthweight infants", was published bringing together data from 21 studies including 3042 low birth-weight babies (less than  at birth). This review showed that babies receiving kangaroo care had a reduced risk of death, hospital-acquired infection, and low body temperature (hypothermia); was also associated with increased weight gain, growth in length, and rates of breastfeeding.

Benefits

Pre-term and low-birth-weight infants
Kangaroo care "is an effective and safe alternative to conventional neonatal care for LBW infants, mainly in resource-limited countries." Kangaroo Mother Care reduces mortality, and also morbidity in resource limited settings, though further studies are needed.

Kangaroo care arguably offers the most benefits for pre-term and low-birth-weight infants, who experience more normalized temperature, heart rate, and respiratory rate, increased weight gain, and fewer hospital-acquired infections. Additionally, studies suggest that preterm infants who experience kangaroo care have improved cognitive development, decreased stress levels, reduced pain responses, normalized growth, and positive effects on motor development. Kangaroo care also helps to improve sleep patterns of infants, and may be a good intervention for colic. Earlier discharge from hospital is also a possible outcome Finally, kangaroo care helps to promote frequent breastfeeding, and can enhance mother-infant bonding. Evidence from a recent systematic review supports the use of kangaroo mother care as a substitute for conventional neonatal care in settings where resources are limited."

For parents
Kangaroo care is beneficial for parents because it promotes attachment and bonding, improves parental confidence, and helps to promote increased milk production and breastfeeding success.

A 2017 study found that the psychological benefits of kangaroo care for parents of preterm infants are fairly extensive.  Research shows that the use of kangaroo care is linked to lower parental anxiety levels.  It was shown to decrease anxiety scores in both mothers and fathers, unrelated to parents’ marital status.  Kangaroo care has also been shown to lead to greater confidence in parenting skills.  Parents who used kangaroo care displayed higher confidence in their ability to care for their child.  It has been shown to positively impact breastfeeding as well, with mothers producing larger amounts of milk for longer periods of time.

For fathers

Both preterm and full term infants benefit from skin to skin contact (SSC) for the first few weeks of life with the baby's father as well.  The new baby is familiar with the father's voice and it is believed that contact with the father helps the infant to stabilize and promotes father to infant bonding. If the infant's mother had a caesarean birth, the father can hold their baby in skin-to-skin contact while the mother recovers from the anesthetic.

A 2016 study looked at international literature reviews of early (SSC) benefits for infants and fathers. Their findings for infants included:

 Swedish and Germany reviews found that father SSC is as effective as mother SSC in raising a baby's temperature and there is no difference between father and mother skin-to-skin on biophysical measures of the baby's expenditure of energy. 
 A Swedish review found that babies experiencing father SSC had significantly higher blood glucose levels than babies who were placed in an incubator. A higher glucose level protects a baby from cold temperatures.
 A Swedish review found that babies who experienced father SSC showed lower levels of salivary cortisol when handled, which indicates a lower stress response. 
 A Swedish review found that babies receiving father SSC were more easily comforted and stopped crying more quickly than babies that had been separated from a parent. 
 A Swedish review found that pre-feeding behaviours, such as rooting and sucking, were less frequent among the infants who received father SSC. Infants receiving father SSC started breastfeeding a little later than those receiving SSC only from their mothers.

Looking at the review, researchers found that SSC was of benefit to fathers as well.  Their findings included:

 An India study found that fathers who provided SSC to preterm infants exhibited more caring behaviours and developed a more sensitive approach to their infants.
 A Colombia review found that after a pre-term birth, father SSC was linked to better cognitive development of the infant and more engagement by the father when the couple returned to their home.
 Reviews done in the USA and Sweden showed that fathers who provided SSC felt less stress, were less anxious, and had a better relationship with the mother.
 Reviews done in Denmark and Sweden found that father SSC, like mother SSC, promotes verbal interaction between infant and parent within minutes of the birth.  The review also found that fathers who have experienced SSC  participated more in infant care and felt more in control when handling unexpected situations.

Following Caesarean section birth

Although WHO and UNICEF recommend that infants born by Caesarean section should also have skin-to-skin contact (SSC) as soon as the mother is alert and responsive, a 2014 review of medical literature found that many hospitals were not providing SSC following a C-section.  Immediate SSC following a spinal or epidural anesthetic is possible because the mother remains alert; however, after a general anesthetic the father or other family member may provide SSC until the mother is able.
  
It is known that  during the hours of labor  before a vaginal birth a woman's body begins to produce  oxytocin which aids in the bonding process, and the authors believe that SSC can be of special importance following a C-section birth.  Indeed, women reported that they felt that SSC had helped them to feel close to and bond with their infant. The review reported comments made by mothers such as "My baby calms down right away when I put him to my chest. I don't know if it's related to holding him skin‐to‐skin during the cesarean – but I think it is."   Newborns were also found to cry less and relax quicker when they had SSC with their father as well.  There is evidence that women who give birth by C-section are less likely to breastfeed and those that do have increased difficulties in establishing breastfeeding.  However the review found that immediate or early SSC increased the likelihood of successful breastfeeding.

Promotes breastfeeding 

According to some authorities there is a growing body of evidence that suggests that early skin-to-skin contact of mother and baby stimulates breast feeding behavior in the baby. Newborn infants who are immediately placed on their mother's skin have a natural instinct to latch on to the breast and start nursing, typically within one hour of being born.  It is thought that immediate skin-to-skin contact provides a form of imprinting that makes subsequent feeding significantly easier. The World Health Organization reports that in addition to more successful breastfeeding, skin-to-skin contact between a mother and her newborn baby immediately after delivery also reduces crying, improves mother to infant interaction, and keeps baby warm.  According to studies quoted by UNICEF, babies have been observed to naturally follow a unique process which leads to a first breastfeed. After birth, babies who are placed skin to skin on their mothers chest will:

 Initially babies cry briefly – a very distinctive birth cry
 Then they will enter a stage of relaxation, recovering from the birth
 Then the baby will start to wake up
 Then begin to move, initially little movements, perhaps of the arms, shoulders and head
 As these movements increase the baby will actually start to crawl towards the breast
 Once the baby has found the breast and therefore the food source, there is a period of rest. Often this can be mistaken as the baby is not hungry or wanting to feed
 After resting, the baby will explore and get familiar with the breast, perhaps by nuzzling, smelling and licking before attaching

Providing that there are no interruptions, all babies are said to follow this process and it is suggested that trying to rush the process or interruptions such as removing the baby to weigh or measure is counter-productive and may lead to problems at subsequent breastfeeds.

For mothers with low milk supply, increasing skin-to-skin contact is recommended, as it promotes more frequent feeding and stimulates the milk ejection reflex, prompting the body to produce more milk.

Pain control 
Skin-to-skin contact is effective in reducing pain in infants during painful procedures. There appears to be no difference between mothers and others who provide skin-to-skin contact during medical treatments.

For institutions
Kangaroo care often results in reduced hospital stays, reduced need for expensive healthcare technology, increased parental involvement and teaching opportunities, and better use of healthcare dollars.

Technique 

Kangaroo care seeks to provide restored closeness of the newborn with family members by placing the infant in direct skin-to-skin contact with one of them. This ensures physiological and psychological warmth and bonding. The parent's stable body temperature helps to regulate the neonate's temperature more smoothly than an incubator, and allows for readily accessible breastfeeding when the mother holds the baby this way.

While this model of infant care is substantially different from the typical Western neonatal intensive-care unit  procedures, the two are not mutually exclusive, and it is estimated that more than 200 neonatal intensive care units practice kangaroo care. One survey found that 82 percent of neonatal intensive care units use kangaroo care in the United States.

In kangaroo care, the baby wears only a small diaper and a hat and is placed in a flexed (fetal position) with maximum skin-to-skin contact on parent's chest.  The baby is secured with a wrap that goes around the naked torso of the adult, providing the baby with proper support and positioning (maintain flexion), constant containment without pressure points or creases, and protecting from air drafts (thermoregulation). If it is cold, the parent may wear a shirt or hospital gown with an opening to the front and a blanket over the wrap for the baby.

The tight bundling is enough to stimulate the baby: vestibular stimulation from the parent's breathing and chest movement, auditory stimulation from the parent's voice and natural sounds of breathing and the heartbeat, touch by the skin of the parent, the wrap, and the natural tendency to hold the baby.  All this stimulation is important for the baby's development.

"Birth Kangaroo Care" places the baby in kangaroo care with the mother within one minute after birth and up to the first feeding. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends this practice, with minimal disruption for babies that don't require life support.  The baby's head must be dried immediately after birth and then the baby is placed with a hat on the mother's chest.  Measurements, etc. are performed after the first feeding.  According to the US Institute of Kangaroo Care, healthy babies should maintain skin-to-skin contact method for about 3 months so that both baby and mother are established in breastfeeding and have achieved physiological recovery from the birth process.

For premature babies, this method can be used continuously around the clock or for sessions of no less than one hour in duration (the length of one full sleep cycle.)  It can be started as soon as the baby is stabilized, so it may be at birth or within hours, days, or weeks after birth.

Kangaroo care is different from the practice of babywearing. In kangaroo care, the adult and the baby are skin-to-skin and chest-to-chest, securing the position of the baby with a stretchy wrap, and it is practiced to provide developmental care to premature babies for 6 months and full-term newborns for 3 months.  In babywearing the adult and the child are fully clothed, the child may be in the front or back of the adult, can be done with many different types of carriers and slings, and is commonly practiced with infants and toddlers.

Rationale
In primates, early skin-to-skin contact is part of a universal reproductive behaviour, and early separation is used as a research modality to test the harmful effects on early development. Research suggests that for all mammals, the maternal environment (or place of care) is the primary requirement for regulation of all physiological needs (homeostasis), maternal absence leads to dysregulation and adaptation to adversity.

In mainstream clinical medicine, Kangaroo Mother Care is used as an adjunct to advanced technology that requires maternal infant separation. However, skin-to-skin contact may have a better scientific rationale than the incubator. All other supportive technology can be provided as part of care to extremely low birth weight babies during skin-to-skin contact, and appears to produce a better effect.

Based on the scientific rationale, it has been suggested that skin-to-skin contact should be initiated immediately, to avoid the harmful effects of separation (Bergman Curationis). In terms of classification and proper defining for research purposes, the following aspects that categorise and define skin-to-skin contact have been proposed:

 Initiation time, (minutes, hours from birth), ideal is zero separation.
 Dose of skin-to-skin contact, (hours per day, or as percentage of day), ideal >90%.
 Duration, (measured in days or weeks from birth), ideally until infant refuses.

Safe technique should ensure that obstructive apnoea cannot occur. Since the mother must be able to sleep to provide adequate dose, this requires keeping the airway safely open, and close containment to mother's bare chest using a garment, various of these are described in the WHO guidelines.

Mother should be the primary provider of skin-to-skin contact, as only she can breastfeed. However, it is almost always necessary that father should also provide skin-to-skin contact to achieve adequate dose; other family members can also be used. Since skin-to-skin contact is basic to early bonding and attachment, it should probably not be done by hospital staff and other surrogates.

Terminology
Kangaroo Care is likely the most widely used term in the United States for skin-to-skin contact. Gene Cranston Anderson may have been the first to coin the term Kangaroo Care in the USA. The defining feature of this is however for skin-to-skin contact, commonly abbreviated as SSC, also STS. This is used synonymously with "skin-to-skin care". Dr Nils Bergman, one of the founders of the Kangaroo Mother Care Movement, argues that since skin-to-skin contact is a place of care, not a kind of care in itself, skin-to-skin contact should be the preferred term.

Kangaroo Mother Care is a broader package of care defined by the World Health Organization. Kangaroo Mother Care originally referred only to care of low birth weight and preterm infants, and is defined as a care strategy including three main components: kangaroo position, kangaroo nutrition and kangaroo discharge.
Kangaroo position means direct skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby, but can include father, other family member or surrogate. The infant should be upright on the chest, and the airway secured with safe technique. (The term Kangaroo Mother Care is commonly used to mean skin-to-skin contact, despite its definition from the WHO as including a broader strategy). Kangaroo nutrition implies exclusive breastfeeding, with additional support as required but with the aim of achieving ultimately exclusive breastfeeding. Kangaroo discharge requires that the infant is sent home early, meaning as soon as the mother is breastfeeding and able to provide all basic care herself. In Colombia in 1985 this took place at weights around 1000g, with oxygen cylinders for home use; the reason was that overcrowding in their hospital meant that three babies in an incubator would result in potentially lethal cross-infections. An essential part of this is close follow-up, and access to daily visits.

History 
An early example of skin-to-skin infant care is the traditional Inuit woman's garment, the amauti, had a large pouch at the back where the baby would sit against the mother's bare back.

Peter de Chateau in Sweden first described studies of "early contact" with mother and baby at birth in 1976, articles do not describe specifically that this was skin-to-skin contact. Klaus and Kennell did very similar work in the US, more well known in the context of early maternal-infant bonding. The first reported use of the term "skin-to-skin contact" is by Thomson in 1979 and quotes the work of de Chateau in its rationale. This is contemporary or even precedes the origins of Kangaroo Mother Care in Bogota, Colombia. This latter did however make the concept more widely known.

In 1978, due to increasing morbidity and mortality rates in the Instituto Materno Infantil NICU in Bogotá, Colombia, Dr. Edgar Rey Sanabria, Professor of Neonatology at Department of Paediatry - Universidad Nacional de Colombia, and Dr. Hector Martinez Gomez, introduced a method to alleviate the shortage of caregivers and lack of resources. They suggested that mothers have continuous skin-to-skin contact with their low birth weight babies to keep them warm and to give exclusive breastfeeding as needed. This freed up overcrowded incubator space and care givers.

Another feature of kangaroo care was early discharge in the kangaroo position despite prematurity. It has proven successful in improving survival rates of premature and low birth weight newborns and in lowering the risks of nosocomial infection, severe illness, and lower respiratory tract disease. It also increased exclusive breastfeeding and for a longer duration and improved maternal satisfaction and confidence.

Dr Rey and Dr Martinez published their results in 1981 in Spanish, and used the term Kangaroo Mother Method. This was brought to the attention of English speaking health professionals in an article by Whitelaw and Sleath in 1985. Gene Cranston Anderson and Susan Ludington were instrumental in introducing this to North America.

"Kangaroo Mother Care" as a term was first defined at a meeting of some 30 interested researchers, attending a meeting convened by Dr Adriano Cattaneo and colleagues in November 1996 in Trieste, Italy, together with the WHO represented by Dr Jelka Zupan.
 
An International Network of Kangaroo Mother Care (INK) was convened at the Trieste meeting and has overseen workshops and conferences every two years. After Trieste, meetings were held in Bogota Colombia 1998, Yogyakarta Indonesia 2000, Cape Town South Africa 2002, Rio de Janeiro Brazil 2004, Cleveland USA 2006, Uppsala Sweden 2008, Quebec Canada 2010, Ahmedabad India 2012, and Kigali Rwanda 2014; the meeting in 2016 planned for Trieste Italy.

An informal steering committee coordinates these meetings: (alphabetically, current) Nils Bergman, Adriano Cattaneo, Nathalie Charpak, Kerstin Hedberg-Nyqvist, Ochi Ibe, Susan Ludington, Socorro Mendoza, Mantoa Mokrachane, Juan Gabriel Ruiz, Réjean Tessier, Rekha Udani.
 
Susan Ludington maintains a "KC BIB" (bibliography) on behalf of INK, endeavouring to be a complete inventory of any and all publications relevant to Kangaroo Mother Care. This is also broken down in an analysis of 120 charts, in which specific outcomes are collated.

The International Kangaroo Care Awareness Day has been celebrated worldwide on May 15 since 2011. It is a day to increase awareness to enhance the practice of Kangaroo Care in NICUS, Post Partum, Labor and Delivery, and any hospital unit that has babies up to 3 months of age.

Society and culture 

The International Kangaroo Care Awareness Day is celebrated on May 15 since 2011.  It is a day to increase awareness, education, and celebration to enhance the practice of kangaroo care/skin to skin contact globally.  Healthcare professionals, parents, volunteers around the world show their support, in their own way, for improving Kangaroo Care practice to benefit babies, parents, and society at large.

Controversy
The main controversy among proponents of Kangaroo Mother Care relates to eligibility to initiate kangaroo position: in the original Rey & Martinez model and as described in the WHO guidelines, the infant should be stable to "tolerate skin-to-skin contact". From a biological and neuroscience perspective, others argue that it is separation from mother that causes the instability.

Regarding ‘kangaroo nutrition’ there is little controversy, with accumulating evidence for the benefits of breastfeeding as such, and evidence that even preterm infants can exclusively breastfeed.

Further controversy concerns the ‘early discharge’, which is defended by the Fundación Canguro, in Bogota, Colombia, and reported in evidence from a Cochrane review.

See also
 Babywearing
 Infant massage
 Swaddling

References

External links
 Kangaroo mother care to reduce morbidity and mortality in low-birth-weight infants, WHO
 United States Institute for Kangaroo Care
 International Kangaroo Care Awareness Day

Infancy
Babywearing
American inventions
Colombian inventions
Metaphors referring to animals
Babycare